The City
by AriMarvelUniverse
Summary: ON HOLD FOR NOW The Rodent Kingpin of Crime, the Mutant Messiah Hamato Splinter, has passed away. He leaves his massive Empire and the city of New York to his four adopted sons, the youngest Mob heads in history who are soon tortured by secrets and hounded by those who would wish to destroy them. Rated M for future chapters and content. Mob/Mafia fic. NOT T-cest!


_The city of New York has always been run by a higher class of people, even after the Mutants rose from the shadows and made themselves known to the public. New York, like any major city, had its criminals. It was plagued by mobs, drug runners, pimps and thieves. They were lawless thugs, loose and dangerous with no rules and no purpose._

_And then, everything changed._

_One man...one Mutant. Hamato-Splinter. No one ever remembered where he came from, but for over two and a half decades, his cold black eyes surveyed his kingdom, his city of New York. He was the Mutant Godfather, the Rodent Kingpin of crime. Descended from a line of Japanese royalty, he decimated his enemies and his rivals. The Italian mob families- the Maronis, the Falcones, the Caines - the Russians, the Latin drug cartels, and the burglary rings. He crushed them and he folded them into his empire until his clan ran everything, from weapons and drugs to prostitutes and money laundering._

_Splinter was ruthless. Night after night, the streets of New York would run red with the blood of humans and mutants alike, those that failed to succumb and surrender. In the shadows of the city, a war was fought among the crimelords, and one by one they all fell to him. Eventually, he became known worldwide and overseas, feared by even the Triads and the Yakuza in Asia and the Throatcutters of South America. His name was more than a mob, more than a family of crime. The Hamatos were THE mob._

_To the people, he was a benevolent business man. He gave money to the poor and the needy. He built homes and hospitals, playgrounds and schools. He sponsored charities and good will funds. The Mutants loved him the most. Splinter single handedly raised Mutant-kind up from prejudice, discrimination, and hardship in a time when Mutants were looked upon as the lowest scum of the city, little more than freaks and monsters. Splinter was their Ghandi, their Martin Luther King. Some even dared to call him the Mutant Messiah._

_When his empire was complete and airtight- when he owned the police, the lawyers, the judges, and everything and anything else he desired- Splinter married a human girl named Tang Shen. After that, he adopted four young Mutant sons, four turtle brothers that he named after the Renaissance masters. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. They grew into exceptional children of great intelligence, cunning, charisma, and leadership. They were raised by the mob, honed by their Father's business. Following his heritage, Splinter also taught them the secret arts of Ninjitsu, turning them into deadly assassins._

_When the boys were five, their mother was tragically murdered, right in front of them. But Splinter continued to train them and groom them to one day take over the Hamato clan._

_All the while, he pined in secret for his beautiful wife. Her killer was never found, though he scoured the city for years on end, nearly until the day he died._

_«»«»«»_

"What do you mean, 'The shipment is going to be a little late'? That's unacceptable." Leonardo snapped into his Bluetooth. The twenty one year old mutant turtle leaned forward and placed his elbows on his desk, scowling slightly. His leaf green brow furrowed over his deep brown eyes as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone call stammer through an explanation.

_"The train had a little trouble at the Mexican border, sir, that's all...they've started searches...it was a random thing...but no worries, we're through. It'll be on the boat to Argentina immediately and then straight to Colombia."_

"Has Montoya been informed?"

_"Of course, sir."_ There was a pause, and then the man chuckled nervously. _"There's...there's no need to involve Mr. Donatello, yes? Everything has been handled."_

Leonardo smirked, satisfied by the clear ring of fear in the man's voice. "I'll be the judge of that. Donatello's a stickler about timing- he won't be happy about the delay. Just make sure everything else runs smoothly."

_"Yes, sir...of course, sir. Smooth as silk."_

Leonardo raised his hand and ended the call, shaking his head. He leaned back in his chair and gazed out the window at the city...his city. The view of Downtown New York was stunning from his top floor office, and he never got tired of looking at it. He had seen equally beautiful views in more exotic places- Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong. But there was just something about New York that he loved. Ironically, his earliest memories were of hiding in the dark and cold, huddled away underground, away from the light and warmth.

'And now...I can see the entire world from my desk.'

When their Father had passed on, he had also passed his empire on to his sons, Leonardo and his brothers. They were considered the youngest mob heads in history, and Leonardo had been chosen as the leader of them all. Michelangelo ("Little" Mikey) was the youngest, only nineteen years old. Raphael was a few months younger than Leonardo himself, and Donatello was the middle child. He was twenty. It was a heavy burden, but they bore it as best they could.

Leonardo sighed and absently rolled his sleeves further up his arms. He had dressed fairly casual that day- dark pants, a dark blue shirt under a thin long sleeved light blue button up worn open and tailored to fit him perfectly, and a loosely tied tie. He wasn't scruffy like Mikey and Raph, but he wasn't as starched and pressed as Donatello.

Leonardo chuckled to himself, momentarily picturing his little brother the way he used to be when they were children- nerdy, gangling, and meek.

'_We've all changed so much since Bolton Prep...well, maybe not Raph. He doesn't change much at all.'_

He was shaken out of his reverie by his P.A system buzzing gently to life, and the front desk attendant delivering a message.

"Mr Hamato, your brother is here to see you."

"Which one?"

"Mr Raphael, sir."

'Speak of the devil...' Leonardo sighed. "Send him up..." He stood up and turned his back to the door, continuing to stare out the floor to ceiling window. Minutes later, the door swung open, and his immediate younger brother walked through. "Hey, Leo. We might have a problem here." Raphael grunted in his thick Brooklyn accent. Leonardo turned around and looked him in the face.

Where Leonardo was the businessman of the family, handling fronts, charity, and anything money related, Raphael handled the dirtier aspects of the operation. He dealt with the flesh trading and the flow of drugs within the city and her close neighbors, mostly. Raphael's enforcers "Kept the monkeys in line", as he liked to put it, making sure that no rivals or pawns started causing trouble or got out of hand.

Occasionally, he worked with Mikey on the weapons export and the car business. He was imposing, muscular with a dark green complexion and burning golden eyes. His red shirt was tight over his shell and arms, and his jeans had a bit of a sag to them. A single gold chain completed his look.

Leo glanced at the telltale bulges of his brother's chosen weapons under his clothes, and the eldest turtle raised an eye ridge. "You're not here to try and off me, are you little brother?" Raphael grinned widely. "Nah, not yet." He plopped down into a chair. "Venus said hey, by tha way." Leo tilted his head at that. "Was there something you needed, Raph?" Raphael shifted and made himself more comfortable. "Yeah. Some 'a my guys've been tellin' me that tha Oruku's 're gettin' frisky." Leonardo winced. The Oruku clan was a rival family. "That's odd. I thought we were good with Saki these days, after the Opium deal went through.

"Uh-uh, it aint Saki. Boss Man's in Japan. It's his daughter. Ya know, yer old girlfriend?" Raph smirked. Leonardo's glare said MOVEON. "She's been runnin' stuff since he left, an' she's been getting' brave. Seems she thinks her girls can walk Fifth an' Lennox. WE own Fifth an' Lennox. We had a little...disagreement, few days ago. Some 'a her people met some 'a our people, an' well...now she's down a few people." He laughed. "Mike's a genius with them automatic clips...two bangs, five bullets."

"I'll be sure to tell him that. Anyways..." Leonardo muttered. He closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them. "Alright, I'll call Karai. That is why you told me, isn't it? You figured she'd talk to me?" Raph lifted and raised his shoulders without a trace of chagrin or remorse. Leonardo rolled his eyes heavily. "It might be that she just wants to talk to us about something- she always was a little dramatic." Raph smirked again and swung his foot. "Ya didn't seem ta mind it so much back in tha day." Leo chose to ignore that completely. "Try to avoid a street war, if you can. I'd really rather not be fighting on our birthday and Mother and Father's anniversary." He left off the other painful date.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. But it aint my job ta be tha level headed one in this operation. Ya know I don't give a damn 'bout tha Press, bro." Raphael stood up to leave, hauling himself out of the chair. "Ya comin' ta tha House later, or what? Mikey called. Said it's been a while, an' he's right." All four brothers owned their own homes, but every once in a while they'd stay together in the manor they grew up in for a week or so.

Though they'd never say it, all of them had noticed that it tended to occur around the date of Tang Shen's death, the need and longing to be with family.

Leonardo shrugged. "Maybe. If I finish up here early." Raph nodded, raised a hand, and let himself out, leaving the oldest to continue staring broodingly out the window. After a minute, Leonardo exhaled and ran a hand over his face. He still had a lot to do- a video conference with the Mayor, a phone conference with a money launderer in the Dominican, and ten million other important things. Now, in addition to that, he had a pending conversation with his Ex to look forward to.

'_Wonderful_...'

«»«»«»

"Pop the hood, Nick! Let's see what we see." Mikey grinned. The youngest Hamato leaned his shell against the tall metal shelf behind him in the dim workshop. His bright blue eyes gleamed in the low lights as the scrubby mechanic raised the hood of the convertible, and he let out a long whistle. "Aw, man! It's my birthday already, isn't it? Somebody sped up time and didn't even tell me." The end of a sucker stuck out the end of his mouth, and he pulled it out with a slow pop. He was almost never seen without candy in his mouth. He licked red juice from his lip and kicked the side of the car lightly. "This is raw Nitro, right? Hot stuff, dude. This'll sell great in Tokyo."

Michelangelo could give the people from Fast and Furious a run for their money. He was the car and gun man, and he loved his job. He wiped his greasy hands on his orange wife beater and laughed like a maniac, throwing them up in the air and breaking into a victory dance. "This is great!" He glanced up at the mechanic with an oil smeared beak. Streaks of his sea foam green coloring could be seen through the grime, making him look like a little kid. Which, in essence, he was. At nineteen, he'd only been an adult legally for two years, but he'd been running the Hamato clan with his brothers since he was sixteen. He was a goofy practical joker by nature- always had been, always would be.

Mikey dug into the pocket of his torn jeans and withdrew a clump of bills. "The rest of the cars have this too, right?" he asked. The mechanic fixed his eyes on the money and nodded quickly, almost salivating at the sight of the crumpled hundreds. "Si, si...We took out the engines and replaced them with the tanks. Easier to bus across the borders." Mikey rolled his eyes. "That's Leo and Don's thing, not mine. As long as it gets here, im good." He tossed the cash at the man and giggled as he watched him scoop it out of the air. "Buy yourself something pretty, honey. And while you're at it, start unloading the rest of the Nitro. I'll be back later."

He removed another sucker from his back pocket and unwrapped it, an orange one this time. With one hand, he put it in his mouth. With the other, he pulled out a slim silver cell phone and held it up to his head. "Heeey, how's my favorite brother?" he crowed sweetly, batting his bare green eyelids. "Guess what just came in from Rio?"

_"The Nitrogen is here?"_

"Yup. Just like you said." Mikey confirmed. "It's all lined up and ready for ya."

_"Good. That's one thing that's going right today. Is any of it damaged?"_

"Uhhh..." Mikey said. His steps faltered slightly, and his face went blank. "I don't...*hehe*...actually know. I forgot to check."

"_Again_."

"Yeah...again. Sorry, Donnie..." Michelangelo muttered, blushing brown. "I already paid the guy...but Silva wouldn't be dumb enough to sell us damaged stuff, would he?" he snorted as he exited the workshop and squinted into the setting sun. "That's just stupid..."

_"I'd like to think that, Mikey. I'll be there in a little while when I finish up at the police station. The Kevlar vests just came in from Germany for the police. We've got to keep the Commissioner satisfied or Raph's girls are screwed. "_

"And then...I'll see you at the house later, right? Raph's bringing Leo. Don't really know how- he's such a workaholic. But don't worry, Don, he's got nothing on you!"

_"Thanks so much, little bro."_ Donatello replied dryly. Michelangelo smiled. Growing up, he had always been closer with Donatello than with the other two. _"Wait a minute- you're not going to be there?"_ Mikey bit his lip and swallowed audibly. "Uh, no. I got...something to do. Something kinda important, kay?"

"_Important, huh? So important you can't tell me about it?"_

Mikey crunched down on his sucker and jogged into the parking lot, towards his car. The tangerine orange corvette with a black stripe down the hood was conspicuous, but he didn't care. Leo hated his baby. He said it was showy and attention seeking. But Mikey loved it. He threw open the door and slid into the custom leather seat. He didn't need a key. The car was push to start.

"Look, Don. Don't worry about it, alright? It's nothing serious." he explained, grimacing with guilt. More than anything, he hated lying to Donatello. Back when they were kids, he could have told him anything. But no one could know about this. There was a moment of frosty silence on the other end, and then Donnie sighed. _"Okay, fine. I'll see you later."_ Michelangelo listened to the dial tone with a stomach churning with guilt. He lowered the phone slowly and started his car, blushing worse than ever.

Two lots away, a black limousine idled quietly. One of the darkly tinted windows was lowered slightly, revealing the lenses of what looked like a small pair of binoculars, like the ones that rich patrons used at horse races. The lenses were trained on the sleek orange corvette. They watched as a young Mutant turtle stepped out of a dilapidated workshop and spoke quickly into a cell phone for a few minutes, then slide into the drivers seat and pull away. After he was gone, the binoculars moved back into the shadows of the car, where a man was concealed.

The man carefully folded his lenses and removed a cell phone of his own. "Speak to me, Carlisle."

_"Sir, Leonardo and Raphael Hamato were last seen Downtown, together. Raphael was with Leonardo, and then he left."_

"I'll expect you to follow him."

_"We already are. The other one- Donatello- he was at the Precinct. Nina is handling him. And you, of course, are tailing the youngest."_

"Indeed," the man agreed. "He has left the workshop. He appears...secretive, and shifty. It is intriguing."

_"Well, he is a mob head, sir."_

"Mm. All the same, I intend to follow him. Make sure that you and the others are not seen, or I shall be very...disappointed."

_"Yes, sir...sir, if I may ask, why are we doing this?"_

The man paused, considering. Eventually, he spoke again. "Since you have been so faithful to me, I will answer your question. The Mutants I have told you to investigate are the adopted children of an enemy of mine. This person tried his best to destroy me long ago, along with everything I hold dear. And I intend to destroy them in retaliation."

"..._Sir_?"

"Now Carlisle, you may be wondering why I do not simply seek revenge on their Father. Unfortunately, he is dead. But when I ruin them, and everything he has built for and through them, I will ruin his legacy, his family, and his memory in one fell swoop."

_"But sir...they are...The Hamatos. How could you possibly hurt them?"_

The man smiled pleasantly and made himself more comfortable in his seat. "Simple, my good man. I have already hurt them, long ago. They simply do not know it yet. And as to how I intend to do it now...well, as we've witnessed, every family has its dirty little secrets. I will exploit theirs and use them to tear them down from the inside." The man sighed happily to himself. "Does that sate your curiosity?"

_"...Yes, sir."_

"Good. Then back to work."


End file.
